Madagascar 4 love comes around
by MagnoliaTigress
Summary: Alex's old partner returns to him and their old romance might be blooming again. Will it happen and how will Gia react
1. beginning of friendship

Many years ago, in the state of New York, Alex the cub was sitting on his platform looking out to the Central Park Zoo. He had been living in the zoo for three months and he was getting use to his surroundings. He has three good neighbors and a wonderful audience. He loved having the spot light of the zoo; but, that was before someone came for a visit. It began when Commissioner Pervis McSlade came to see little Alex. He was with Commissioner Mike Brown of the Bronx Zoo.

"Yes our little Alex is the star of my zoo. What do you think?"

"You think he can do a few dance moves?"

Pervis snapped his fingers and a zoo keeper came to his side. "Can you make little Alex do a few dance moves?"

"Yes sir." Zoo keeper Alice went to the lion habitat and whistled. "Come Alex, it's time for a show."

Alex stands up and began to do incredible stunts and Mike was impressed. "I think that he's fantastic. You saw Marina, so what would happen if these two cubs were to dance together?"

"We'd be rich! First, we gotta see if it'll work out between the two. You can bring Marina to here for a week and then we can see if it'll work out."

"Okay. We'll get ready for the visit."

The commissioners left Alex and he jumps to his new friends. "Hey guys, I overheard that there is gonna be a new lion cub coming to visit from another zoo."

Marty lifts his head from eating his head. "Are you sure that you didn't mishear them?"

"No, I'm sure. Another cub is going to come and she is a performer just like me."

Gloria pops out of the water. "Ooo. Alex is getting a girlfriend."

Melman pops his head out from the wall. "Is is getting a girlfriend?"

"What? Of course not." Alex hops his stage. "Just because we can dance doesn't mean she's my girlfriend. Gross, girls have cooties.

"Hey!"

"Just saying what needs to be heard. I probably won't even like her."

The next day, a crate came to Alex's habitat and he jump on the crate. He knocks on the crate and then a knock was answered. Alex tries to open the crate with his claws; tries to pull it open, even kicks it, but it just wouldn't open. A laugh was heard from the box and he decides to push the box over. Then suddenly, the box instantly opened.

Alex looks inside to see a pair of green eyes. "Hello, who are you?"

The pair of green eyes came out to reveal a lion cub just him only female. "I'm Marina, and who are you?"

"I'm Alex." The cubs look at each other then walked around each other. "So I overheard that you can dance."

"And back at the Bronx zoo, I heard that you can dance." They laughed then hopped on the stage and began to dance fight. People began to gather around to the two lion cubs. Marina instantly notices. "Hey we're attracting a crowd. Let's kick it up a notch." They began to dance together. Everyone was cheering for them. The three other friends were watching the lion cubs perform on stage.

Marty shook his head. "I should have known that lioness was a show off."

Gloria gave Marty jealousy look then back at Marina and Alex. "They look so cute together."

"I reckon that they wouldn't last even a week together."

Melman looks at Marty. "I have to agree on Gloria on this one. They do look kinda cute together."

Alex and Marina tried their best work together but sometimes they fall off the stage. But they grabbed the other cub before they fall to the ground. When it was night time, dinner was served. A steak was tossed in the middle and Alex and Marina fought for it. They ended up breaking the steak in half and flew across with steak juice in their face.

Marina wipes her face and crosses her arms. "That wasn't such a good idea."

"I know, but it is tasty." Alex starts to lick himself.

"Oh Alex. Clearly you have learned the term hair conditioner."

"Hair conditioner?"

"It makes my fur so shiny and clean and it makes me a hit back in Bronx. I bet if you take a bath every two to three days, you'll be so shiny that people would be so thrilled to see you perform."

"Are you saying that I stink in both kinds of ways?"

"No, no, no. But I am saying that you should think about it. You want a lot of fans, don't you?"

"Well… yeah. You know since we're giving advice, please stop taking big steps, that rock won't hold us if we take big steps."

"Okay."

"Good."

"Then we have to go to Bronx. There's lots of room there."

"What? Me leave the zoo?"

"Come on Alex, you and I will be stars with a bigger stage."

Alex starts to think for a while. "If it doesn't work here, then I'll be able to try."

"Fantastic. First, we have to show that we're gonna get along. We play around, chase our tails and of course, dance together. Once they see that we're getting along, and that the stage is too small for us, they'll take you to the Bronx zoo and then we can rehears over there and we'll become the best dancers in the world. People would come from all over the world just to see us perform."

"You're crazy, you know that?"

"It's a life of a performer. Someday, you'll get this feeling suck in your head for a life time."

"Nah, you'll never catch me like that."

Marina shook her head with disbelief. "Well we better get to sleep. We have a big day tomorrow." Marina and Alex sat in the rick bed. It was too cold for them. Then Marina saw something above them then clapped her hands twice. Then a heater above them turned on. Marina sighs and puts her back against Alex's. "That's much better. Good night Alex."

Alex lifts his head and stares at Marina. "Good night Marina." He's feeling a connection but he doesn't know what it is. He sighs and then falls asleep.

The next day, Alex and Marina began to practice in front of the commissioners. They saw how small the stage was and they decided to try somewhere else. Alex and Marina were sent to the Bronx zoo that day. Alex and Marina left the crate and into the lion habitat in the zoo, Alex hid behind Marina.

"What's wrong?"

"This place is filled with trees."

"I don't know how long you've lived in the city, but ever lion knows that they've been in this kind of place."

"I haven't." Marina rolls her eyes and walks forward. Alex follows her. "So um… is place all yours?"

"Well no, there're more of us here. They're probably playing or messing around like always." Then Marina stopped in an instant then gasps. "Look out!" She pounces on Alex and another came out of nowhere and just missed them.

"What was that?"

"That was are cue to run. So run!" They ran as fast as they could to run. "Quickly, follow me. They hurried on a plat form and the lion stopped. "Sorry about him, he's a real pain in the butt. I should have warned you."

"Why won't he cross?"

"It's because only performers are allowed over here. So what do you think?"

Alex looks around the stage and saw lots of things. "Oh Marina, it's even bigger than my stage." He notices a trumpet on the ground. "Is this yours?"

"Yeah I play a little." Marina grabs it and began to play the trumpet. Alex claps once she was done. "Thank you very much."

Alex holds out his paw. "So do you wanna dance?"

"Sure." They were about to dance… "Oh one more thing… Yo DJ!" Then a monkey on a record player woke up. "Let's pump the party!"

"You got it Marina!" DJ began to spin some music. Alex and Marina began to hip hop dance to the music. Everyone gathered to watch the two cubs dance to the song. Even the commissioners began to watch them.

Then it hit Pervis. "I got an idea that will go through the roof for our dear little cubs."

"What is it?"

"Every month, Alex comes here to rehears with Marina. Then in four to five days, the cubs come to central park and perform in front everyone in New York City."

"I love it!"

Marina was staring at them while she was dancing. "You hear that Alex, this is sounding like the beginning of a wonderful partnership."

"I hear you." Alex spun her around they both jumped in the air to use their paws to make a butterfly with their paws.

A few days later, Alex and Marina were dancing on a stage in the middle of sheep meadows. Everyone cheers for the partnership of the two cubs. Alex and Marina were even on television. Marty, Melman and Gloria were watching them through one.

Marty was surprised by them. "Wow. I never knew he would make it this far."

Gloria nudged him. "Like I told you, they look cute together."

"I wish I had a partnership like those two had." Melman coughed after that.

"Don't worry Melman. Knowing Alex for a while, they won't last longer than a week."

5 years and 11 months later in other words Valentine's Day

Alex and Marina were now full grown adults and were doing dancing stunts to the music. They smiled at each other as they do their fantastic stunts. Marina and Alex even did music together. While Marina played the trumpet, Alex did the ukulele. Once they were done, the people from every corner of Sheep meadows were cheering for them.

"**The king and queen of New York City! Alex the lion and Marina the lioness!"**

Alex and Marina take their bows onto the people. Marty Melman and Gloria were cheering for them back at the zoo.

"I can't believe that it's been almost six years since those two became partners." Marty drinks through a straw.

"Well they do share one thing, the audience." Melman agreed with Marty. "You think those two will end up being together for the rest of their lives?"

"They can only hope, Melman. But I can tell that Alex really wants it. He always talks about her when it's the week of his departure from the zoo to rehears in the Bronx zoo." Gloria looks at them. "Yeah I bet that the commissioners would come to their senses to let them stay together."

The car to take Marina home broke down so Marina would stay with Alex for the night. The people the blow-dry Alex's main while they brush Marina's fur. Then two steaks were put in front of them. Alex and Marina stopped their groomers and got to eating. The groomers left to leave the lions alone.

Marina lifts last of her steak. "To the King of New York City and the wonderful partnership between us."

"And to the Queen of New York City and the most beautiful lioness I've ever met."

"Oh Alex. You're just saying that."

"I'm serious. I've met the lionesses back at your zoo and no one can compare to you and your passion."

"Alex, you have such a way with words."

"Yeah." They lift their last of their steaks and then eat them. Alex notices the sad expression on Marina's face. "Is something wrong?"

"Alex, I've noticed that there is a big connection between us and I'm afraid that something is coming to break it apart. Next month is our six year anniversary and today is Valentine's Day. But yet there is this feeling that we would be separated."

Alex goes up to her and helps her up. "Nothing will separate us. Other than seeing each other four days a month will break our partnership."

"That's one of the things that I don't like. Seeing you only for four days a month is not enough for me. We may be only about 10 miles apart but I feel like we're 10 thousand miles apart. Alex, what will we do?"

"We can only hope Marina. Maybe someday, they'll make a habitat just for you and me."

"With a big stage and enough space around us for thousands of people to see."

"Wow that would be amazing."

Marina laughs and hugs him. "Oh Alex."

Alex hugs her back. "Don't worry about a thing, we'll think of something."

Marina saw that they had an audience. "Um Alex? Your friends are staring at us."

Alex looks at them and they had sly faces on them. "Um… this… isn't what it looks like?"

Marty shook his head. "Alex, we heard the whole thing."

"Oh Marty, I almost forgot." Marina got a present out for Marty. "Happy one week early birthday." She puts the present in front of Marty.

Marty opens the box to reveal grass. "No way, Norwegian grass? How did you know that was my favorite grass?"

"Alex talks about his best friend most of the time. So I asked my friends from next door to give me grass from next door."

"Well, we better get some sleep." Alex jumped down to his bedrock.

Marina joins him. "Well Alex pretty soon, you and I are gonna be big stars together on the same stage for the rest of our lives. But we're not gonna have that camera around us." Lies down next to him. "Imagine it, a huge stage with fantastic equipment, space that would fill thousands of people. People all over the world would come to see us. Wouldn't that be amazing?"

Alex smiles at her. "Yes it would. Marina, you are the best thing that's ever happened to me. You showed me how to be a better performer. How to be a better performer, how to make my mane shiny and how to be more passionate. Marina… I don't know what I'd do without you."

Marina smiles and kisses his forehead. "Good night Alex."

"Good night Marina." Alex his head down and Marina put her head on his.

The commissioners were watching them through the Alex-cam. "Well Mike, we might not be able to understand them, but they do deserve to be together like this."

"Let's a surprise for them next month on their anniversary."

The next day, Marina stands in front Alex and looks back at the crate behind her. Then she looks at Alex. "Well Alex, I'll see you next month."

"Yeah. Right back at you." Alex wipes a tear from his eye. Marina hugs him and he hugs her back. "I don't know why, but this feels like the last time we'll ever see each other again."

Marina rubs her head against Alex's. "Follow your own advice Alex, everything will be okay. Even if this is the last time we see each other, let's promise to let the passion for performing and in between us to never end."

"Our passion will live on forever." They let go and paws slowly slip away. Marina looks at Alex one last time before she went in the crate. She smiles at him and blows a kiss at him. He pretends to catch it and put it close to his heart. Marina gets in the crate and they close it. The crate was loaded on the truck and instantly on the road. Then the crate was out of sight, Alex began to dance and lands on the stage. "This is officially the best Valentine's Day and a half ever! I can't wait for next month!"

Marty walks to the wall. "Well I can't wait till next week. Next week is when I turn 10 years old."

Well guys what do you think? This doesn't involve any of my other option stories, but it's been stuck in my head for weeks.


	2. life changes

The next week was the unexpected. Marina was busy doing her stretches while DJ was playing music.

Then two workers were passing by lion habitat. "Hey did you hear what happened to Alex the lion from the Central park zoo?" Marina quietly listens as she sips from her water bottle.

"Yeah. He ran away from the zoo along with three other animals." They sit down in front of a television. "Hey see if it's on the News today."

One of the workers turned on the TV.

A news lady was in front of the animals in "Last night dramatic incident at Central Grand station was an example of animal rights whackos have been shouting for years... The animals clearly don't belong in captivity. Now they're to be sent back to their natural habitat, where they will live their lives in the freedom they so clearly desire."

Marina gasps as she watches this. She drops her water bottle in shock.

On the television a guard looks at Alex. "He awake! He's awake!" Everyone runs away and guard shot dart at him.

Marina then ran from the stage, into her den, held her Alex the lion stuff animal and began to sob. "Oh Alex, why did you have to leave me?"

"Marina?" a young lioness came up to her. "I know you are upset about Alex."

"He was my dearest friend and now, he really is gonna be 10 thousand miles from me. I'll never see him again."

"The staff found out that you know, they're gonna give you the day off."

"Thanks Katherine." Marina hugs her Alex and sobs again.

"Don't worry, tomorrows gonna get better just you wait." Katherine was trying to think positive.

The next day, Marina was sobbing as loud as she could.

"Yeah it's not better." Katherine looks at another lioness standing next to her. "Brenda, you had to blab it to her."

"She had to know. The boat that carried him and his friends was reported missing."

"ALEX! ALEX! ALEX!" Marina was on the top of the highest rock, on her knees, holding her stuff Alex to her heart and crying his name to the sky. "ALEX!" She collapsed to her side and sobbed. "Oh Alex." She ends up crying herself to sleep with her arms around Alex.

_Dreamscape_

_Marina was in Sheep meadows sitting on a rock when she saw the stage that she and Alex perform on. Alex was on the stage looking at her._

"_Alex!" She ran as fast as she could to reach him. Once she got on the stage, she hugged him. "Oh Alex. I thought I'd never see you again."_

"_Shh Marina. It's gonna be okay. I'm afraid this is a dream."_

"_I wish it wasn't."_

"_Look Marina. You have a lot of passion in your heart and you let it all out in your moves on your stage. Keep doing what you are doing and someday you will be reward with the life that we were gonna spend together. The whole world will know your name."_

"_Okay Alex. Our passion will live on forever."_

_Alex rubs his nose against hers. "Our passion will live on forever."_

_Dreamscape ends_

Marina wakes up to find that she was nosing her stuff Alex. She looks around to see that it was dark. She looks at her Alex, picks it up and hugs it. "Our passion will live on forever." Marina got up and heads for the stage and began to practice for tomorrow's performance.

Every day, Marina wakes up and looks at her Alex hugs saying her new catch phrase. "Our Passion will live on forever." Then Marina then cues DJ to play music for her while she dances. She sometimes made time for her friends but she is mostly practicing or performing. At the end of the day, she goes to her bed and sleeps with her Alex saying her catch phrase.

Her dance moves attract people all over the world to see her. She ends up with back up dancers while she dances. New equipment was set up and she was able to do incredible stunts in the air. She's been a hit for one whole year.

Then it her big break finally came to her. A ringmaster from a circus came to the zoo and talked to Commissioner Mike.

"My name is Mr. Masculine and I wanna buy Marina the lioness from the zoo." He puts a giant bag with a dollar sign on it on the table. "I pay $100,000.00."

"You certainly know how to talk to me. But you're gonna have to double it in order to have my favorite star."

"I knew you were gonna say that." Mr. Masculine puts another bag on the table. "$200,000.00."

"You got a deal. But getting Marina out of that place is really hard. She's been strict ever since her old partner was killed."

"Don't worry, I'll send one of my felines to her to see if they can talk her over. Just make sure that Marina is on that stage when Lionel is on it."

"Who's Lionel?"

"He's my star of the circus. I'm sure that he would be able to make sure that Marina wants to come with us." He walks toward that window that shows Marina dancing with her back up dancers. "I can tell she loves to perform."

"Yep. All she does is eat, sleep, practice and perform. Also she sleeps with an Alex the lion stuff animal. It helps her sleep and more relaxed. She really loved him then and you can tell she loves him just as much."

"Well thanks for the tips. I'm sure she'll fit right in." Then he saw Marina got out a trumpet and starts to play it.

After Marina was done performing, she bows to her audience, puts out a thumb up at her team and walks away. She walks up to DJ.

"Hey DJ! Good choice in music."

"I know what kind of music that my favorite dancer wants."

"Nice." Then a saxophone was heard in the distance. They saw a tall and handsome lion playing a saxophone. "Wow. He's so majestic."

"Marina?" DJ was trying to get her attention. But Marina walks up to the saxophone playing lion.

"Hey. I'm Marina. What's yours?"

"Call me Lionel." He kisses Marina's paw. "I heard that you can really play the trumpet."

"Well I… I don't know what to say."

"Say you will play with me." He holds up his saxophone and plays a jazz tune. Marina sways to the music while she gets her trumpet and starts to join him. They sway to their music as they play in front of people that were watching them. Commissioner Mike and Mr. Masculine were watching them too. As soon as Marina and Lionel were done playing, they people clapped and they bowed.

Marina and Lionel exit the stage and they head for Marina's private cave. He saw her prize possessions including her stuff Alex. "Alex was my best friend in all of New York. He was sent to Africa but never made it. This stuff animal of him keeps me in touch with him. We were gonna have our own place for us to stay the month of our anniversary. I loved him very much. He told me in a dream that one day, my name will be known in the world."

"I know the feeling. Once, I was just a lion with a little passion of music. Then a nice tigress named Kira began to dance to my music and took her away from an awful circus. We joined Cirque De Masculine and we became fantastic partners ever since. Sadly, her passion has gone into her head and she became… too good to join me with my music. She would sometimes work with me but other times, she would ignore me. I wish for once, she would listen to me."

"So you know how it is to lose a partner. Whether it's their passion or their lives, we lost them." Marina hugs her Alex. "I wish my passion and the passion in my lost friend can live throughout the world."

"That's why my master and I are here. We want you to come with us to see the world. Everyone would pay big money to see you perform. With your and my passion mixed together, everyone will be happy to see us."

Marina looks at the Alex the stuff doll. 'Could this be what you have been talking about Alex?' She smiles and looks at Lionel. "I know the world comes to me here, but it would be very nice to see the world outside the zoo. I'm in."

"Fantastic. We'll leave tomorrow. You can have a farewell performance. I better go, until then my sweet Marina." Lionel kisses her paw and walks away.

Marina watches as Lionel left the habitat. Once he was gone, Marina claps and a light was turned on. She picked up her Alex and swung around. "Oh I can't believe that my calling has finally come. Tomorrow I will be doing my final performance in the zoo and I'll be known all over the world. I will do all for you. You have always been there for me and I will make you proud up there." She sits on her bed. "Tomorrow has to be one of the greatest performances I have put on. It might not be like we did together, but it will be fantastic. Good night my perfect partner." She kisses his cheek and lies down for a perfect sleep.

The next day, Marina put on the best showed she did ever since she was separated from Alex. She did flips in the air and does incredible stunts on her equipment. Once she was done, she grabbed her stuff and stands in front of her friends.

"Well everyone, looks like this is it. DJ, I want you to continue with the music. People will do anything to see monkey play music."

DJ nods. "I will do whatever it takes."

Marina nods then looks at Katherine. "Katherine, I want you to take my place on the stage. Work hard and you will succeed."

Katherine wipes her tear and nods. "I was trying not to cry but know… I'm sobbing!"

Marina pats her on the back. Then she looks at Brenda. "Brenda, try to cut down on the gossip."

Brenda chuckles. "No promises."

Marina shook her head. "Well everyone I must go. Good-bye everyone and I'll miss you all." She heads for the door and waits for the people with the crate to pick her up. They put her in a crate and Marina along with her stuff Alex was on their way to the Cirque De Masculine. "This is it Alex. My calling has finally come and soon I will be known in the world. And it's all thanks to you." She hugs her stuff Alex and began to sleep for the trip.

Marina finally wakes and looks through the crate hole to see that she was in a truck.

"Alex, I don't think we're in New York anymore. I think we're in Europe." She saw a huge circus tent, a long a train and a bunch of people and animals practicing their routine. They saw acrobats, clowns, male lions and tigers, bears, poodles, cats, birds, strong elephants lifting a car, and she saw Lionel play his saxophone while a tigress was dancing to the music. "Hey, that must be Lionel's partner, Kira. I can see that she decide to work with Lionel." Then the truck pulled in the circus grounds. "You better hide Alex. I want to make a good impression and no offence, but a lioness holding a stuff animal is not a good impression. I'll put you in my trumpet case in replacement of my trumpet. Playing a trumpet is a really good impression when it comes to circus people."

Mr. Masculine stepped in front of the crate. "Attention circus employees. Please come over to me for I have a surprise for all of you." Everyone gathers around him. Lionel was so excited while Kira was suspicious. "Presenting… all the way from New York City, the queen of New York, the princess of jazz and the duchess of performing everywhere… Marina the lioness." They open the crate and that was the cue for Marina to playing her little solo on the trumpet. Everyone was impressed on the trumpet. Lionel then jumps in and plays along with her. Kira was now jealous of Marina for taking Lionel like that in front of her. Once they were done, everyone cheered. "I can tell you are gonna fit right in, Marina. Lionel, show her to her trailer."

Lionel takes her paw and walks her to the train. Marina was still surprised. "I have my own trailer?"

"Yep and you're gonna love it." Lionel stops at a trailer that had her face with a star on the background on it and Marina was wide eyed. "What do you think?"

Marina hugs Lionel. "Thank you. You helped me reach my goal in my life. I'm sure if Alex was with me, he would thank you too."

At first Lionel was happy, but as soon as she mentioned Alex, his smile dimmed a little. "I'm… glad you like it here. I'm… gonna practice." He walks away.

Marina stepped in her trailer and danced. She got out her Alex and swung it around. "We did Alex. With you guide and my realism, our name will be known around the world. Yippee!" She throws him in the air and lands on a bed of hay. She catches him and laughs. "I know I'm gonna like it here." Then a knock was made on the door. She opened the little window and saw Kira at the door. She then opens the door. "Oh Hi there, my name is Marina." She holds out her paw.

Kira shakes her paw. "I'm Kira. You did a really good impression on everyone today. So your talent is playing the trumpet?"

"Oh it's more than that. I do stunts in the air and do incredible dance moves on the ground. Of course when I was with Alex, my dance moves were invincible. Everyone would come from miles around to see us perform once a month. Alex was always energetic on the stage and I would be by his side the whole way. But it was beautiful the way we played music together. He would play the ukulele while I played the trumpet. But the best times together is while at night back in the Bronx zoo. Alex would play his ukulele and I would sway to the music. Then DJ would play romantic music and Alex invites me to dance. Everyone is staring at us while we were dancing but we were too busy staring into each other's eyes. When he tips, he lifts me back up and we rub noses." Marina lifts her stuff Alex to her heart. "Alex has been a part of me for so long that I can't get him out of my mind. I would do anything to see him again."

Kira wipes a tear from her eye. "Wow. That was tearful."

"Thank you. Well I better get ready for…"

Then Lionel walks in. "Hey it's Zaragoza! He's here with Vitaly, Stefano and Gia."

"What? Vitaly is here?"

Marina was confused. "Who's Vitaly?"

"My ex-husband, Stefano is a sea lion and Gia is a young jaguar."

"Cool. I wanna meet them."

Lionel stops her. "No you have to stay hidden. So…"

Marina pinches Lionel's lips shut. "Stop right there. Tell me to stay hidden is like telling everyone to not eat. We all need to eat to survive while I need to be seen in order live." She puts stuff Alex down, jumps out of her trailer and up on a little podium. "I love the crowd and the crowd loves me. You see, I gotta a passion in my heart that I can't keep inside. I might have lost my lover, but his passion for performing will live on forever. In fact, his last words that he told me before he died out at sea were our passion will live on." She didn't notice that she had an audience behind her. All the other animals gathered around her and so did a certain Tiger, sea lion and Jaguar was listening to her. Marina was swinging around a pole. "That is how I survived then and this is how I will survive now here in the circus." She looks behind her to see the other animals. "And I know if everyone has the right passion, you all can do anything. I am Marina and my passion is bringing the audience up for my partner." Everyone cheers for her. "Let me here more voices."

A lion stood up. "I'm Blyds and my passion is the drums!" Everyone cheers for him.

A tiger stood up. "My name is Kenya and my passion is the piano!" Marina had to join the others cheering them.

"I am Jackson the Tiger and my passion is break dancing!" Everyone cheers for him.

A lion stood up. "My name is Alejandro and my passion is flamenco dancing!" everyone cheers for him.

"Such wonderful and succeed able passions."

Lionel stepped up. "What do you mean succeed able?"

"I can play a trumpet and I can dance any kind of dance. I even taught a lion how to play a ukulele. With my help and everyone's pitching in, we can become the greatest circus throughout history!" Everyone cheers out loud and lifts Marina in the air.

Blyds stands out. "Three cheers for Marina, the lioness of passion!"

"HIP! HIP! HOORAY! HIP! HIP! HOORAY! HIP! HIP! HOORAY!" They threw her in the air.

"Woo-hoo! I always wanted to do this!" Then the birds flew in the air saying Marina is the best. "Yeah!"

Now Lionel and Kira were jealous. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

"You think? Lionel, she'll be working her way to the top and we'll just be extra like everyone else."

"Then we'll just have to keep her low before she gets to the top."

Vitaly heard this. "Oh no, they might get rid of her."

Stefano comforts him. "That's what he said about Kira, but yet she's still here. I know Marina has a lot of passion but maybe soon, we'll have that passion in us."

Gia had to disagree. "Stefano I don't think anyone can compare to her. She is nothing but passion. I mean it's not like we're ever gonna meet another lion who has just as much as passion." They heard a whistle and that was their cue to leave.

**Is Gia right or will a certain lion join their circus? You might already know the answer, but find out what happen next in the next chapter. Please tell me what you guys think of the story.**


	3. Life Now

About a year later, in circus Zaragoza, thirteen animals has joined them and even bought the circus. There were 4 penguins, 3 lemurs, 2 chimps, a hippo, a giraffe, a zebra and a lion. They have really changed their lives since they showed up in the circus. That lion was Alex the lion of New York City. At first all he wanted along with his friends was to make it home to New York. But spending sometime in the circus was adventuring and they couldn't just leave. So when they make it to New York, and went through a serious escape route, the animals decided to stay in the circus where they will spend the rest of their lives. The penguins were the like the ringmaster of the show, but it's mostly Skipper, the head penguin. The two chimps, Phil and Mason were the penguins disguise as the King of Versailles, also known as the head of the circus. Two of the lemurs help around circus while one of them, Julien, was with the act with Sonya, a bear on a Ducati. The giraffe and the hippo, Melman and Gloria, their act was dancing on the high wire. The zebra, also known as Marty, was with Stefano on the cannons. Alex, along with Gia, was on the trapeze. They have grown closer than usual partners do. Gia started to have feelings for Alex but she is scared that Alex doesn't feel the same way that she does.

Gia and Alex had just finishing practicing on the trapeze. "Oh Alex that was amazing."

"One of our greatest practices. Especially with you Gia." They hug each other and they began to lean in.

"MASCULINE ALART! CODE RED!"

A helicopter land in the middle of the practice grounds and then Marina jumps out of the helicopter along with Lionel and Kira. Gia hid behind Alex.

Kira stepped up. "We've come for a certain lion."

"No way, Alex will never join you." Gia hugs Alex's arm.

Marina got out her trumpet and began to play. Alex's eyes widened and he began to walk forward to her. "Oh Marina you play like an angel."

Gia tries to pull him back. "No Alex! Don't get sucked in the music!" She lost grip and Alex swung Marina around.

"Now that we have him on our side, you will all fail and be separated." Lionel, Kira, Marina and Alex hop in the helicopter and flew off.

"ALEX!" Gia then got hit in the head with a passing rock.

"GIA!" Everyone gathered around her. "GIA! GIA! Gia! Gia. Gia… Gia…"

Everything started to fade.

"Gia… Gia… Gia…" Gia eyes opened to see that she was in her trailer and she saw the blue eyes that thought that left.

"Alex!" Gia hugged him and began to cry. "Oh Alex! I had this horrid dream. You and I were practicing but then you left me for the Masculines. How could you do that?"

"Gia calm down. It was just a dream." Alex pulled away and wipes away her tears. "I'm not going anywhere. The circus is my home. Try not to cry because today is a very special day for a very special someone." Alex was trying to cheer her up.

"It is, for whom?"

"For you silly. Today is your 6th birthday."

"Oh right. With all the new things going on around, I totally forgot my birthday."

"Yeah, I forgot my birthday too. Last month, in Africa, I was so concerned to get home that I forgot my birthday. But then my friends remembered and that started our next adventure."

"Wow and all this because you forgot your own birthday."

"Every birthday is special." Alex stands up. "One time on Melman's birthday, we all got our favorite foods in New York. One time on Gloria's birthday, we had the biggest party in Madagascar. But we wouldn't have even made it to Marty if it wasn't for Marty's birthday. His wish started our first adventure. My wish began the greatest, dangerous and the best adventure of our lives. Fighting Dubois and joining the best circus in the world."

"Oh Alex you're so passionate. I wish I could have as much passion as you do."

"And you do Gia. Your passion fills mine." Alex helps her up. "Now chin up and big smile. I have something for you."

"You do?"

"Well I had help." Alex opens the doors and Gia smiled big.

"SURPRISE! HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY GIA!" Everyone had made Gia a fantastic birthday party.

Gia was so happy that they had remembered her birthday. "Oh you guys, this party looks fantastic."

Once the music began to play, everyone began to dance. Alex sticks out his paw to Gia. "May I have this dance?"

"Of Course Alex." Gia put her paw in his and they began to dance.

Stefano dries his eyes as he watches them dance. "Look at that, Vitaly. Our little Gia is growing up."

Vitaly smile dims a little. Sure he's happy for Gia, but pretty soon, she'll want to hang out with Alex more than them. The party was amazing and by the time the sun was setting, everyone was tired. But now it was time for the presents.

Gia shakes a gift. "What is it?"

"Come on open it up." Stefano was excited about this.

Gia opens her present and it was a flower ear clip. "Oh Stefano, it's beautiful. I love it." She puts it on her ear.

Alex hid something behind his back. "I have something for you." He gave her a box and she opens it.

Inside the box were two blue cloth-like bracelets with red and yellow curves and a few red, yellow and blue stones. "Oh Alex, they're beautiful." She puts then on her wrists and they began to glisten.

"I figured you would want something to go with your necklace since you're so attached to it."

Gia hugs Alex and he hugs her back. "Thank you very much. You're the best partner in the world." Alex opens his eyes and looks at Gia.

"You're welcome Gia." Alex was sad because a certain lioness once told him that.

_Flashback_

_Alex gave Marina a stuff version of himself. "Oh thank you Alex." She gave him a hug. "You're the best partner in the world." Alex smiles and hugs her back._

_End of Flashback_

Skipper stands on top of a table. "Well that's it for this party. Let's get pack because we're heading for Viva Las Vegas."

Everyone was now cheering and got to work right away.

While the circus train was on its way to Las Vegas, California, Alex and his friends were talking to the penguins about the next show.

"Oh hippy, you got another fan bag this morning and a package from Commissioner Pervis McSlade."

Marty shook his head. "Wow, another one? Alex, you get more popular by the minute."

"Tell me about it. I'm not saying I don't like it, it's nice being appreciated, but people are mostly into me and not the other ones in the circus. I wonder what the package is." Alex began to rip open the box. "No way." He gets out a ukulele. "It's my old ukulele. How did he know I wanted this back?" He began to play 'Dipper mouth blues'. "I still got it."

"Wow Alex, I haven't heard you play the ukulele since New York City."

Alex looks at the ukulele and his smile then went down. "Yeah… the last time I played it was with… Marina. I wish I can see her at least one more time." He remembers the times he and Marina played together on and backstage. He remembers her beautiful smiles and her eyes. He comes back to reality and found tears in his eyes. He looks in the box and saw a big flat box and opens it. It was a silver necklace with diamond like stones and a moon stone in the middle. On the back of the big moon stone was engraved 'Our passion will live on forever'. During his years in the Zoo, he raised enough money for not only to get the necklace, but to pay the penguins and the chimps to get it for him. "But she's probably forgotten about me years ago."

Marty pats him on the back. "It's okay buddy. I'm sure that she is happy where ever she is."

Back at the Cirque De Masculine, Marina has brought joy into the cirque, well all except Lionel and Kira. Because of her great ideas, Marina has brought the circus out of Europe and all the way to America. She had all of the animals doing what they loved the most whether it's dancing, playing or spectacular stunts. Marina has worked so well that she is now star of the circus next to Mr. Masculine. Lionel was now angry. He once was at the top of the circus, all the circus animals listened to him and obeyed him. Now that Marina was in charge of the animas, he was in the back ground. And if Lionel is out back, so is Kira. That means she is mad at her too. For almost two years, Lionel and Kira were in the back ground and Marina was the main attraction all over the world. Marina never lost passion. She still missed Alex, she still has her stuff Alex, but now she was the main attraction. Marina really didn't care for the title. She only cared of doing it for her old lover which she still thinks he's on the main stage in the sky.

Marina was sleeping in her trailer with her stuff Alex in her arms until her Alex alarm clock sounded off. 'ROAR WAKE UP! ROAR WAKE UP! ROAR WAKE UP! ROAR WAKE-' Marina pushed the snooze button and stood up. She looks at her stuff Alex. "Good Morning Alex. Today is a big day for the big day." She puts on a sparkly pink vest then looks at herself in the mirror to put on her make-up. "If we do a good job, it's off to Hollywood where dreams come true. Plus I've always wanted to see the Hollywood sign. It's too bad that animals can't roam around the place. I would go straight to china town and find a wet cement block and put my paws in it." She then lifts her stuff Alex and began to swing him around. "Of course it wouldn't be as much as fun without you. You always wanted to come here to Hollywood for the same reason that I want to." She hugs the stuff Alex and looks out the window where the circus training course was being set then she looks up to the sky. "Oh Alex I wish you were here with me. Well I better get ready for practice." She puts Alex on her bed. "See you later." She opens the door to her trailer. "Hey everyone!"

"Hey Marina!" All the lions and tigers, excluding Lionel and Kira, walk over to Marina and began to walk with her.

"Blyds, how is that fabulous drum solo coming?"

"It's going great Marina. Pretty soon, the crowd will go wild with my drums."

"Fantastic. Jackson, how's the choreography for our next dance?"

"Amazing. I got the moves of where you can do your famous break move."

"Alright, you're on a roll. Kenya how's that wonderful music from the piano?"

"Every note is perfect. You'll be able to do your jazz solo with me and you can even dance your flamenco dance to it."

"Up high Kenya. Speaking of flamenco how's everything on the dance Alejandro?"

"Magnificent, pretty soon you and me will graceful and fast on the dance floor."

"That is magnificent. All your accomplishments will pay off and then we will go to Hollywood." The lions and tigers started to cheer. Marina stood

Lionel and Kira walk up to them. "Only this time, there will be a different lead in the circus."

Marina shook her head. "Oh man. Lionel, you're not challenging me again, are you?"

"Look Marina, I've been under your shadow for far too long."

"I'm sorry, am I in your sun?"

"That's not what I meant, but you really are in my sun." Lionel was really in Marina's shadow.

Marina jumped off the stage and in front of him. "Look, it's not my fault I'm the lead of the circus; in fact, the reason why I'm even here in the circus is because of you."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You keep tell me the same thing every time we do this."

"Well I wouldn't have to give the speech if you keep challenging me."

"Yeah!" The boys stood next to her.

"Keep your posy out of this and let's do this."

Lionel and Marina began to circle. Lionel snapped and Kira gave him his hat, a black vest and his saxophone. Marina snaps and the boys gave her a jazz hat, a black sparkle vest and her trumpet. Then the competition began. It started with improvisational jazz where Lionel and Marina played their own version of 'Dipper mouth blues'. Marina was good but Lionel was through the roof. Round 1 goes to Lionel.

**Lionel: 1  
Marina: 0**

The next competition was a dance off. Lionel was amazing but Marina was really cutting the rug. Marina did her version of hip-hop and break dance. Round 2 goes to Marina.

**Lionel: 1  
Marina: 1**

The final competition was the toughest and the most dangerous of them all. They were the high stunts. Marina and Lionel were doing the high wire, the trapeze, even the cannon. Lionel was doing a great job of doing this, but was a little frightened. Marina; however, was doing great like she was professional mostly because she was a professional. Lionel fell off and Marina rolls her eyes. She uses the trapeze to save him and then they landed on the platform. Lionel landed on his face while Marina landed with a pose. The boys lift up a ten each. One unfolded his ten to show 100.

**Lionel: 1  
Marina: 2**

Marina leans at Lionel and helps him up. "Who's the lead?"

"You are."

Marina grabs a long pink scarf. "And don't you forget it." She slid down the scarf and landed near the boys. "Bye Kira. Come on boys, we better get back to practicing." She and the boys began to walk away.

Kira crossed her arms. "I cannot believe that we lost again." Lionel lands near her. "Do you know why I even chose this place over mine? My ex-husband was loser and you were the lead. Now you are letting that Zooster take control of the circus."

"No worries babe, we'll find a way for her to fall. The reason why I even let her in was because I was tricked the same way you and Marina was… by the music and passion. You heard her yourself; she doesn't even want to be here. She's doing this for Alex the lion. But guess what is in the paper?" He gets out a newspaper of June 9, 2012.

**THE LEGEND HAS LIVED**

**World famous Alex the lion the king of New York  
was returned to the Central Park zoo last night.  
But sadly, the lion, along with three other  
animals decides to leave to go to the  
Circus Zaragoza also known as the Fur Power  
Circus. The King of Versailles, the owner of the circus  
decided to share the money in the zoo so that  
way they could share the money with them.  
Right now as we speak, Alex and those other  
animals are performing in the circus that is  
a major hit around the world.**

"Is it saying that we raised 1 million dollars for nothing?"

"The money was returned to us, but Marina and the others don't know that. We can use this against her and pretty soon, I'll be at the top once again." He looks at Kira crossed armed. "I mean we'll be at the top once again." He did an evil chuckle as he watched Marina talking to the boys.

**Uh-oh. Marina is in trouble, what will happen next?**

**Please comment on my story and tell me if you like or love it.**


	4. Reunited

Alex was playing his ukulele and singing a love song in front of his friends and Vitaly along with Gia and Stefano heard him play from the trailer next to him.

"Oh great, we have a musician in the circus." Vitaly was still threatened from the last musician that last came here.

Stefano listens and here's Alex voice. "I think its Alice playing that music."

Gia listens to his singing and playing. "He's sounds so romantic."

"Don't get sucked into the music no matter who is playing." He listens to Alex. "But I have to admit, that lion knows how to play music."

On the other trailer, Alex slowly puts down his ukulele and picks up a picture of him and Marina on the stage together. They were starring into each other's eyes and were doing their average pose. A tear fell on the picture and he wipes it off with a handkerchief. His friends comfort him.

Then the train whistle was sounded and everyone looked out the window to see that they had arrived in the city of the gambles. Alex got out of his blue and began to rock his ukulele.

"Oh Yeah! We're here in Viva Las Vegas!"

"You know there is no Viva in Las Vegas."

"Yeah I know, but I just love the sounding of it. I bet the penguins are already making plans to go to a casino once they get there." They all heard three whistles and that was their cue to hang on to something. The breaks were activated and everyone was holding on for dear life. The train stopped in front of a clear space.

Skipper jumps out of the train engine. "Okay everyone, the circus meeting will start in a few minutes." Everyone got out of their trailer and headed for Skipper. "Okay, here's the plan. The city has cleared the streets to our destination to put the circus. We will divide into two groups. Triplets, trapeze felines, elephants, cannon duo and tightrope sensations, you will join be taking the balloons. The rest of you will be going through the streets doing your stunts on the float. Vitaly, you'll be leading us through with your hoop act but don't do the small hoop with the fire; we'll surprise them in the show. Alright everyone, let's get this show on the road, literally."

Everyone got to work right away.

Meanwhile, riding the west to east tracks, the Cirque De Masculine were about to pass by Las Vegas. Marina was playing Viva Las Vegas song on her trumpet with her stuff Alex next to her. She saw the city through her window and smiled. "Oh Alex, if I were walking down the streets with the trumpet in my paws, I would blend in easily. They would have mistaken me as a casino player and let me in anywhere." Marina began to smell smoke. "Do you smell something burning?" Marina smoke bombs heading inside her trailer. "Oh my gosh! We're being invaded!" She grabs her stuff Alex and looks out the door. She saw a red hair lady with a hideous mole on her face, riding on a scooter and has the word animal control on her. "Oh man, it's Dubois from Europe. She is the main reason I stayed in the circus in the first place. I have to get out of here." She puts her trumpet in the case, writes a letter and puts it near her stuff Alex and gets ready to jump on the other side of the train.

It was a good thing that her trailer is one of the first ones next to ringmaster's trailer. Marina looks at her stuff Alex that was about to leave behind. "I might be leaving my stuff Alex behind, but you'll always be in my heart Alex." She puts her black sparkle vest in her case, grabs it and opens the door on the other side of the train. "Mr. Masculine… please forgive me." She jumps out of the train and on the hard ground on her feet. Once she was on the ground, she ran as fast as she could to get as far as she could from Dubois.

Dubois was still chasing the train having no idea that Marina had jumped from the train.

Marina was now heading for the gambling city. Marina was smiling of what her big adventure is gonna be like this time. She then froze as she saw herself in the mirror.

"Oh my Gosh! I'm all dirty! I gotta get clean in fast."

She finds a fountain and when no one was looking, she jumps in the fountain cleaning out her fur. She gets out her emergency hair conditioner from the trumpet case and washes it out. Once she was done, she puts on her black sparkle vest and headed for the city.

Marina began to notice that people were starring at her. "Hey nice costume." "She must be heading for that casino down town." "Hey girl, can you play a tune for us?" Marina stopped at that comment. She smiles, takes out her trumpet, tunes it and began to play 'Shake your groove thing'. Everyone began to jam to the music while putting money in her trumpet case. Marina began to do dance moves while she was playing and a group began to dance with her. A jazz band began to play and Marina was really rocking. All the people began to do her moves whether it's break dancing, hip hop dancing or just plain ol' having fun.

Then she stopped as she saw balloons in the air. Not the small ones like little kids carry around, but hot air balloons. She began to join the crowd that gathered at the street and saw that this was a circus.

'Hey this isn't just any circus, this is Circus Zaragoza.' She saw Vitaly and the dogs on the ground. She saw the elephants jump from one of the balloons. She saw someone being shot out of a cannon heading for a target on top of a building.

"All right! Yeah!"

Marina recognized that voice. 'Is that Marty? Nah, all zebras sound alike.' Marina saw that two animals were dancing on the rope attached to the building. 'Okay, either I'm woozing from not eating in a while or those animals are Melman and Gloria.' She was about to focus on the trapeze balloon when she saw Dubois heading her way. "How did that creep find me already?" She got down and snuck through the crowd. She decides to follow the circus trail and to try to beg for them to take her to her circus.

Once the circus was at their destination and the parade was over, they started to set up for the circus at Sunset Park. Marina was passing by with Dubois hot on her trail. Alex was helping with the tent when he thought he saw Marina passing through.

"Okay I need to sit down. I'm seeing her everywhere."

Gloria walks up to him. "You go on ahead and sit down. I'll take you spot."

"Thanks." Alex headed for a boulder.

Gia was now concerned for Alex. "What does he mean that 'he's seeing her everywhere'?"

"Oh just an old friend from New York. They've been working together for as long as they could remember." Marty pulls hard on the rope.

Gloria pulls hard too. "Actually, she was his first best friend. We were kind of doubtful on him on his first few months. And because of that, Marina use to pull tricks on us."

Melman shivers as he pulls on the rope. "I can still feel the spiders and all because we laughed at him for being scared of spiders."

"Anyways, those two would always practice at the Bronx zoo for it had much more bigger space and they set of a stage in Sheep Meadow for New York City to see every month." Marty pulls the rope.

"Remember their last night together? She sensed that something would separate them and take them far away from each other. I guess she was right the whole time." Gloria pulls harder on the ropes.

"So why is Alex worrying about her now?"

"A package came in from the Central Park and the Bronx Zoo. It had their old stuff like the ukulele that Alex use to play while they get bored of waiting for their performance."

Alex kept his eye on Marina but was still listening to their conversation. "Guys, I need to splash water on my face. I think I'm starting to hallucinate from the heat."

"Okay, just don't go too far."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Alex ran down to the lake and began to splash himself with water and looks at Marina hiding behind a tree trying to hide from Dubois.

Marina stopped at her tracks when she saw him sitting on a boulder starring at her. She didn't know if this was a dream or that his angel was watching her. All that she knew is that he was starring at her and she needed his guidance to safety. Alex points to an old abandon casino near the park and Marina nods and heads for the casino. Alex looks behind him seeing that his friends were still having their conversation about Marina. He sneaks away, grabs his ukulele and heads for that old abandon casino.

The others had just finished the tent. Gia looks at the spot that Alex use to be. "Um guys, where's Alex?" Everyone looks at where Alex was and got worried. Gia looks across lake and sees Dubois hutting for Marina. "Either the heat is getting to me too or I see Dubois on the other side of the lake."

Skipper got out his binoculars and looks at Dubois. "DUBOIS ALERT! CODE RED! EVERYBODY IN THE TENT!" Everyone quickly headed for inside the tent. "Roll call. Four penguins." Penguins raised their flippers. "Three lemurs." The lemurs raised their paws. "One bear" Sonya roars. "Six dogs" the dogs hold up their paws. "Three horses" the horses nod their heads. "One tiger" Vitaly nods his head "One seal"

"I'm a sea lion."

"Whatever. One jaguar." Gia raises her paw. "Two chimps" the chimps did their thumbs up "one giraffe" Melman raises his hoof "One hippo" Gloria raises her arm "One Zebra" Marty nods his head. "One lion…one lion?"

"Oh no! Alex is gone! We have to find him!" Marty was about to leave.

Gloria grabbed his tail. "Whoa, hold on there. You cannot go out there. Are you forgetting how psychotic that woman is? All we do is hope that Alex found a safe place to hide."

Alex kept hiding from tree to tree so Dubois wouldn't see him. He kept heading for that old abandon casino next to the park. Marina was just stepping into the casino seeing cobwebs and old rags everywhere. She flipped a switched and saw that she was back stage of a casino stage for entertainment. Marina smiles as she walked around the place. She pulled away the curtain and it showed The Merry Old Land of Oz scene from the wizard of oz. She sat on a stool, got out her trumpet and began to tune it. Alex had just entered and he heard her tune. He followed the sound and smiled when he saw her play her trumpet. Alex began to tune his ukulele. Marina saw him for she thinks that his angel was still looking at her. She began to play the introduction to "The Merry Old Land of OZ".** (It's one of my favorite musical songs in Broadway)** Alex began to walk to her while he was playing his ukulele. He still thinks that Marina was just a hallucination. They didn't care if this was a hallucination or real life, they were there and that's all that mattered. Once their song was done, they stared into each others' eyes and smiled.

"Oh Alex, I wish I can see you like this every day."

"I know how you feel, Marina. It kind feels like I can reach out to touch you."

Alex raises his paw along with Marina. The moment their paws touched, they gasped and quickly back away from each other. They sat up and began to mirror each other. They moved their heads, made funny faces, even did cool moves. Marina saw the mark on his paw and grabbed it.

"I couldn't be." She looks at him and had a tear in her eye. "Alex… is it really you?"

Alex holds her paw in his and began to rub it. "Your paw is soft like I remember." He looks into her jade eyes and smiles at her. "Marina." Marina smiles at him.

"Alex?" "Marina." "Alex." "Marina." "Alex!" "Marina!"

"I can't believe it!" She jumps into his arms and hugs him while he laughs. "Alex! You're alive!"

"Oh Marina. I thought I would never see you again." He hugs her back while tears were running down his face.

Marina looks into his eyes and wipes his tears away. "Where have you been all this time?"

"Let's just say New York, Madagascar, Africa, Europe, New York again and here I am."

"Wow, you've been everywhere."

They laughed and smiled at each other. Next thing they knew, they leaned in. They were about to kiss when Alex heard cracking sound behind Marina.

"Alex? What's wrong?"

"We have to get out of here."

"Can't we enjoy our moment?" Then the main doors were burst open and Dubois was on her scooter with her noose in her hand. "Our moment can wait. As they say in theater, exit stage right!" They headed for the door with Dubois hot on their trail. Alex and Marina ran as fast as they could to the circus tent.

Marty heard the scooter outside and looks through the curtain. He saw Alex and Marina running from Dubois on her scooter. Marina stopped and went the other way.

"Marina, what are you doing?"

"I know what I'm doing, trust me." Marina ran through the trees with Dubois right behind her. Alex ran in the tent.

"Alex! You're alright!" Gia runs to him and hugs him.

"But not for long. Dubois is…" before Alex could finish, they heard roaring, punching then finally a conk of metal. Alex looks behind the curtain to find Dubois knocked out and Marina with a frying pan in her paw. "That was you plan, knocking Dubois out with a frying pan?"

"Yep turns out, frying pans are perfect weapons. Luckily Dubois didn't see the tent so she won't be able to find me." Marina looks behind him. "Ahh!" She hugged Alex.

"What's the matter?" Marina points in behind him. Alex turns around to see the other animals behind him. "Oh hey guys. It's okay Marina, they're just friends. They're not gonna hurt you."

Vitaly steps up. "Wait a minute, Marina, as in that lioness for Cirque De Masculine?"

Marina sets her arms on Alex's head and looks at him. "Yeah that's me."

"Well we don't want any more trouble here so could you please leave."

"No problem at all." She hops off Alex, grabs her trumpet case and kisses Alex on the cheek. "I'm glad that you're still alive and apparently in good paws around here. Well I better be off to Hollywood."

Alex stopped her before she could go any farther. "Wait, Hollywood California?"

"Oh yeah!" Marina takes out white sunglasses and puts them on. "It may be a little low for me, but there are a lot of producers that would want me in fantastic movies."

"That's not what I meant but good for you. What I meant was Hollywood is almost 300 miles away. You can't go that far in the desert."

Marina took off her glasses. "I have to get to Hollywood in 5 days before they perform. Mr. Masculine wants to get a tour of one of the best places in the world before we perform. If I don't leave now, then I won't be able to make it in time to perform in Hollywood. Does anyone have any other way for me to make it to Hollywood?"

"I know, you can stay with us and we can drop you off."

"WHAT!" All the animals except of the old Zoosters were not happy with Alex's idea.

Alex turns around and looks at the others. "What?"

Marina pats his shoulder. "It's our 3 year and 11 month anniversary all over again."

"The one where the commissioners got so mad, that they decided to not let us see each other again?" Marina nods. Alex just shook his head.

"Anniversary?" Gia was shocked by this. "Alex, she was your partner back in New York?"

"Yep, we practically grew up together." Alex wraps his arm around Marina's shoulder. "She taught me some of my New York moves. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't be the King of New York."

"Well not exactly… but close." Marina punches his shoulder. "But they're right, I'm a Masculine and I shouldn't do this."

"But you're also a New Yorker and I trust you. I'd rather you take the train then die in the desert."

Marina looks at the circus animals then looks at Alex. She smiles and nods. "If you can survive in the wild and still be a New Yorker in the heart, then I can trust you to protect me. Okay, I'll let you take me home." Marina then hugs her best friend.

Gia taps Alex on the shoulder. "Um Alex, can we talk to you for a second?"

Alex looks at the others giving him a look. "Okay? I'll be right back. Marty, Melman, Gloria, can you guys watch over her while I talk with them."

"No problem Alex." Gloria wraps her arm around Marina. "We'll keep an eye on her." Alex went inside the tent with the circus animals. "So Marina, how did you end up here in Las Vegas?"

"Well one moment I was relaxed on the train playing my trumpet next to my present that Alex got me on our fifth anniversary, the next thing I knew, Dubois was chasing. Who knew something that went wrong lead to the right direction to Alex?" Marina got out her portable radio and began to dance to 'After party by Roshon Fegan and Caroline Sunshine'.

Mean while, in the tent, Alex was talking to the circus animals. "Come on guys, I know she won't get into any trouble. I'll keep an eye on her."

Vitaly shook his head. "That's what I said but the last one betrayed us. We won't ever let that happen again." They all heard the music outside. Vitaly peeked out to see Marina dancing to the music. "Just look at her. She's dancing to get attention."

"Well she is a New Yorker. We love attention." Alex looks at her. "Wow she has gone more advanced than the last time I saw her."

Marina begins to flip on a stage that was outside already. People began to surround her. Marina then saw Alex looking at her. "Hey Alex, come over and join me for our finale."

Alex smiles and joins her. As he dances with her, everyone watches them from behind the curtain. The three other Zoosters joined them.

Gloria wipes away her tears. "It's so cute that they dancing after all these years of separation. Those two have been together since they were cubs. If we have never left New York, they would have had their 6 year anniversary together.


End file.
